Detroit Lions come crashing down against unstoppable Baltimore Ravens

BALTIMORE — Ugh.

As in, that was ugh-ly.

The Baltimore Ravens crushed the Lions on Sunday, 38-6, snapping the Detroit Lions’ four-game winning streak, putting a sharp pin in all the hype and excitement and bringing them back to Earth.

Of course, the Lions couldn’t even do that right.

This felt like a crash landing.

THE REACTIONS: Detroit Lions shock everyone with terrible first half against Baltimore Ravens

The Ravens played with emotion and precision; the Lions made mistakes all over the place.

The Ravens were tough; the Lions couldn’t do anything right.

The Ravens were simply unstoppable; the Lions couldn’t get out of their own way.

What an embarrassment for the Lions.

What an amazing performance by Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson, who was the best player on the field.

Jackson completed 21 of 27 passes for 357 yards and three touchdowns, ran it nine times for 36 more and a touchdown, turning it into a rout.

In the first half.

One play summed it up: Jackson dropped back to pass and put on his invisible blanket, making him all but disappear.

He pushed forward into the pocket and it kind of collapsed around him. But the Lions couldn’t find him, much less grab him or even stop him.

So Jackson sprinted out of the pocket, rolling to his right, showing all kinds of patience. Because, well, he was still invisible.

The play felt like it lasted 20 seconds — or longer — but it was closer to 10.

And it’s nearly impossible to cover receivers that long.

Jackson slammed on the brakes and then found Nelson Agholor in the back of the end zone.

Touchdown, Ravens.

The Lions had no answer to stop Jackson, even though they tried a little bit of everything. They sat back in a zone. That didn’t work.

They brought pressure. But that didn’t work either.

Only Baltimore stopped Baltimore.

Detroit's defense had nothing to do with it.

When the Lions rushed three with Jack Campbell as a spy assigned to stop Jackson, this Superman quarterback simply sat back and picked apart the defense.

Another time, the Lions brought the house, rushing six. And Jackson threw to his house — 28 yards to Patrick Ricard, all 6 feet 3 and 305 pounds of him, who was so open it was crazy.

At times, it almost didn’t seem fair. Like the Ravens were just messing with the Lions' defense.

Jackson sprinted to the right, with a whole bunch of blocking in front of him.

A run? Right?

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The Lions defense came flying up, hoping to tackle him.

But Jackson stopped and flicked the ball to tight end Mark Andrews who was wide open and picked up 22 yards, setting up the Ravens' fourth touchdown of the first half.

It was so bad, so dominant, that when the Lions finally go their first first down midway through the second quarter, a Lions fan wearing an Aidan Hutchinson jersey stood up and celebrated wildly.

This was a day to celebrate small achievements.

And even those were rare.

One of the few times the Lions actually reached Jackson, Hutchinson was flagged for roughing the passer on a low hit.

The halftime stats were almost absurd.

First downs: Ravens 18, Lions 4.

Total yards: Ravens 355, Lions 97.

Yards rushing: Ravens 100, Lions 13.

Great plays: Jackson, too many to count; Lions zippo.

Meanwhile, the Lions made mistake after mistake.

Late in the second quarter, the Lions started to move the ball but an intentional grounding penalty, followed by a hold, killed the drive. The Lions got into the red zone early in the third quarter but couldn’t convert on fourth down.

So how should you view this?

It would be crazy to think the Lions could go into Kansas City, Tampa, Green Bay and Baltimore and sweep all of them.

And every team has a bad game.

But this?

This was so bad, so ugly, so absurd, that it was hard to remember that the Lions still have a winning record.

Still have a great shot to make the playoffs.

As long as they can learn from this.

Contact Jeff Seidel at jseidel@freepress.com or follow him @seideljeff.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: The Detroit Lions are still a good team. Just not against the Ravens.